this morning on "early today," done deal. the nfl inks a late-night agreement to get regular refs on the field. candidate clash, president obama and mitt romney nearly clash as they cross key battleground states. and under the sea. google takes its virtual street and under the sea. google takes its virtual street view to incredible new depths. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. and today we begin with game on. late last night the nfl reached a tentative deal with its referees and that ended this

season's lockout. anger over the use of replacement refs spilled over after monday night's contest between the green bay packers and seattle seahawks. the fill in refs awarded a game-winning touchdown to seattle though many felt the packers had made an interception. well, two days of marathon labor negotiations followed. the refs still have to vote on the deal, but commissioner roger goodell has lifted the lockout just in time for tonight's match-up between the cleveland browns and baltimore ravens. nbc's fred roggin will have full details coming up in sports. first president obama and presidential candidate mitt romney both campaigned in the battleground state of virginia today after nearly crossing paths in ohio. nbc's steve handlesman reports. >> reporter: he's wrapping up his tour. >> there's dignity honor and meaning in good, hard work. >> reporter: despite romney's

work here, many visits, ohio may be moving out of reach. even with the help of ohio native jack nicklaus who said he's laid off workers from his golf business. >> we can't afford four more years like the last four years, i know i sure can't. >> reporter: romney can't afford more polls like today's. after he was caught on tape disparaging the 47% of americans who pay no federal income tax, who he said feel like victims, today's "new york times" cbs poll finds romney trailing president obama by 12 points in pennsylvania, by 9 in florida, trailing by ten in ohio. fighting the perception by some voters he's out of touch. >> i've been across this country. my heart aches for the people i've seen. >> reporter: in his new ad romney looks right at voters. >> president obama and i both care about poor middle class families, the difference is my policies will make things better for them. >> reporter: barack obama was in

ohio too talking less about his record and more about romney. >> i don't believe we can get very far with leaders who write off half the nation as a bunch of victims. >> reporter: the auto bailout helps the president here. ohio unemployment is 7.2%, better than most states. >> i need you to register to vote. i need you to start voting six days from now on october 2nd. >> reporter: early voting. they started last friday in south dakota. i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, washington. as world leaders at the united nations discuss violence in syria, rebel forces attacked the capital and reported the deadliest day of the civil war there. more than 340 people are reported to have died yesterday in fighting across the country. in damascus a white van exploded outside a military command center. a second bomb went off about ten minutes later inside the compound and gun battle went on

for hours. four guards were killed and 14 others injured in that attack. well, now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. a texas fast food restaurant became a house of horrors for one employee. the worker was forced at gun point to empty three cash registers into the masked robber's bag. the early morning robbery ended when the employee was shoved into a freezer and the suspect escaped. police have not made any arrests. a special guest arrived at a hawaiian vacation resort in unique fashion. look at there, after an hour of labor a 12-year-old dolphin gave birth to a female calf last month. the dolphin was born inside a manmade lagoon where tourists can swim with marine mammals. the baby dolphin is now 30 days old and doing just great. and finally, this is funny, our green bay nbc affiliate had

a little bit of fun at the expense of the nfl and its referee controversy. >> this is your replacement weather guy forecast. it looks like it's going to be bad out there, people. 200 degrees below today we're looking at. it's really going to heat up. it's going to be like 346 degrees by noon. major foul there. in addition to the odd temps, the weather man also predicted a thunder hurricane. that real weather man eventually showed up to give the correct forecast. we continuously fight not to have replacement weather men. for the real deal, we check in with nbc meteorologist bill karen. >> i want to go on strike just to have you deal with that. >> you would like to torture me just to see how i'd be able to handle it. you do that enough every single day, you don't need to -- >> then i could do it from home and just watch and laugh. >> that's true. >> good morning, everyone.

last night we were very happy to report heavy rain fell in oklahoma city. it's one of the driest areas in the country. one of the driest states along with kansas. we've been very happy and pleased to report rain. some areas picked up as much as 4 inches of rain. this front is kind of stalled out here all the way back through just outside of philadelphia. back through central pennsylvania and all the way through the ohio valley into kansas and oklahoma. all along we've had areas of rain over the last two to three days. the heavy rain has now moved out but almost two inches of rain. it's just a little dent in the drought. this is what we need, more weather patterns like this. oklahoma city towards tulsa, just a shield of rain here all the way north of mccallister. that's great news there. rain continues in southern pennsylvania. the pennsylvania turnpike is not an enjoyable ride this morning. this rain is heading for philadelphia and new jersey eventually as we go throughout your morning rush hour. as far as the forecast goes

today, we're beautiful in the northern portion of the country and it's in the middle that we're dealing with the rainfall today including washington, d.c. that's a look at your national forecast and now here's a look at the weather outside your window. washington, d.c., will not see rain all day long. most of it will stay to the north of you this morning. there will be an additional chance of showers and storms later today. very warm conditions continue. dallas, texas, lorraine field, you have to wait. it doesn't seem like a big deal but two inches of rain that have had a horrible drought, enjoy it. bill, thank you. well, another union deal, student debt climbs, and a new meaning to the term k-nine cop. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, twilight stars kristin stewart and robert pat ten son taking their trial reunion to a whole new level. coming up, a home run derby in baltimore, there's a new

leader in a.l. central, and strike up the band, the new jersey devils referees are coming back. you're watching "early today." >> announcer: "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men stop.

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. protests in athens turned violent over greece's austerity measures. hundreds of rioters hurled gasoline bombs and chunks of marble at police who in turn used tear gas on the mobs. a u.s. army brigadier general has been charged with multiple counts of sexual misconduct. jeffrey sinclair who served in iraq and afghanistan is accused of what the army describes as forced sex with female subordinates. fans are remembering legendary singer andy williams who died tuesday at the age of 84 after a year-long battle with

bladder cancer. williams' hits included "moon river" and the holiday classic "the most wonderful time of the year." the decades long search for jimmy hoffa led to this driveway. authorities are going to test soil samples from underneath the driveway though they doubt any remains found would actually be from the former teamster's boss. and if you thought google maps were a good way to get around town, well, check this out. users can now navigate their way underwater. the pictures of coral reefs are displayed much like the street view feature. comes in handy when you want to go scuba diving. and now here's an early look at how wall street's going to kick off the day. the dough closed at 13,413 after falling 44 points yesterday. the s&p lost 8. the nasdaq dropped 24. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 43 while in

hong kong the hang seng jumped 234. mixed housing data and unrest in europe extended the s&p's losing streak on wednesday. the median price of new homes sold in august rose by a record amount, however, sales of new homes dipped slightly. that took a toll on home builders pulti group kb and beezer. austerity protests in europe like these in spain blunted any news of the housing market. they warned the country is in a deep recision. american greetings jumped 17% after the company said they could soon go private. canadian auto workers union reached a new tentative labor contract with chrysler group late yesterday following similar deals with ford and gm. new research from the few center finds a record one in five u.s. households were saddled with student loan debt in 2010. that's more than double the

homes with college debt in 1989. the average amount owed $26,682. u.s. bank and pnc have joined the likes of jpmorgan chase, bank of america and wells fargo in reporting their websites have been hacked. a cyber watchdog agency recently increased warnings of such attacks which some are blaming on iran. red lobster and olive garden parent darden restaurants along with sears are changing their approach to employee health care. both companies will soon give employees a fixed sum and allow them to choose their own medical coverage and insurer. finally, one small town has really gone to the dogs. the police chief of vaughn, new mexico, resigned yesterday. the problem with that, vaughn's only certified police force member is now a drug sniffing german shepherd named mika. he's really scary. doesn't get all rowdy.

coming up, the yanks ace dominates, a slug fest in baltimore and the tigers play top cat. plus, how to really use your head in hockey. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. i've heard reports celebrations of the rainfall and drought to come. there's more to come. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, as we mentioned earlier, the nfl announced it has reached a tentative deal with its referees. this all happened last night. for more on that and all your sports headlines, here's fred roggin. good morning, it took a number of months and an nfl debacle to come to their senses. they ended a lockout. the regular referees will be back tonight. it's too bad, i really feel like people were starting to warm up to the replacement refs. no replacement for september baseball. miguel cabrera is on the verge of winning the triple crown. this was just a long out to left. alex gordon robbed him at the wall and it kept the game tied at 4-4. forget the run, all the tigers needed was textbook base running. the dirt flew into second, broke up the double play. in came the go-ahead run and that was the difference.

detroit won it 5-4. the white sox lost so the tigers are in soul possession. indians rally. in the a.l. east, the yanks had no problem with the twins. the yankees are up 2-1. that's all cc sabathia needed. he struggled through september. looked like his old self yesterday. struck out ten over eight innings. yanks won it 8-2. the orioles are hot on their tail. there were a pair of homers. every run baltimore scored came off a home run. they beat the jays 12-2. they remain a game and a half back. finally, the referees ended their lockout. if fans want to see their favorite players they can go overseas. they can watch us. they channelled his inner reinaldo. the puck went up and he head it had into the goal. unfortunately, that only counts in soccer, but you can't blame the guy for trying. pablo used its head now let's

hope they use theirs to end the lockout. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. march wardrobe whoas for england's prince william and his wife kate. your early morning headlines are straight ahead. plus, from the golden gate bridge to the grand canyon, these little girls have seen most or more than most do in a lifetime. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this thursday morning. much needed rain is falling in a few spots this morning but especially in oklahoma. it hit oklahoma city last night and now spreading to the eastern portion of the state. that's great for the drought zone there. also there will be some rain this morning moving through the pennsylvania turnpike heading for philadelphia, possibly even down through baltimore too. then tomorrow we're really going to start to see the rain developing and increasing especially friday afternoon and evening in texas. it looks like texas could get drenched from san antonio down to houston friday night into saturday. if you're watching us on wgba, nbc 26 in green bay, wisconsin, check out how viewers and artists perceive light, color and images at about seeing at the trout museum of art. that's your early event today, lynn. if you're going to those areas, i've heard the leaves are changing pretty quickly. >> apple picking? time for apple picking? >> you need to get it out of your system this weekend. i know. and now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment.

following recent reports of a reconciliation are kristin stewart and robert pattinson taking things to the next level? fingers crossed? "us weekly" reports the twilight stars are once again living together after their brief split due to stewart's affair with director rupert sanders. a source tells the magazine, however, pattinson is on edge. he's extra sensitive and insecure right now. meanwhile, okay magazine claims the pair are planning a secret get away, an attempt to mend their relationship. jenny farley of "jersey shore" fame is engaged to robert matthews after he popped the question during a sky diving session. jwoww says the first person she called was snooki. finally there was a royal faux paux committed last week.

locals were offended because the couple wore festive clothing from the cook islands which are located nearly 3,000 miles away. all right. this comes to us from whag news in haggerstown, maryland, where a 12-year-old girl is headed towards a unique travel accomplishment. maria has a vest that boasts 348 badges, one for every u.s. national park she's been to. the junior ranger started visiting the park with her family before she learned to walk. her 9-year-old twin sisters gina and lisa aren't far behind each boasting 290. with 367 national parks total their goal is well within reach. we've got a lot of work to do. i'm lynn berry. this is early today, just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. looks like the weather is staying unsettled. we can see some rain. heavy rain showers moving into northern baltimore county and a to harford county -- and into harford county. we will talk about the rain chances as they move in today. >> 4:56.

coming up, replacing the replacements. >> the nightmare is over. lockout is ended. >> a mother and child are shot. coming up, the latest on the investigation. >> checking on some closures in >> checking on some closures in okay, what'ya havin?

i'll have the build your own burger with a... sunny-side up egg, jack cheese, jill. and, uh... make it a double. inspiration can come from anywhere. build your own burgers are now at denny's.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> how long are we going to avoid the rain? >> we have some rain moving in. >> we have some rain moving in.